Show gin J yan AR WHITE 11 W XU 14 THE STORY SO 50 FAR faill more than foreign troops troop secretly assembled to in mexico by van suddenly ini evaded evaded the united states state vastly superior perlor lu la in number numbers and equips ant to the american forces force which opposed them van troops troop pushed relentlessly forward the U S army was wai not arc CHAPTER continued benning took off to the east in late afternoon he decided on oil boise as the point of vantage from which to observe final developments in the occupation of the pacific coast there he would find no difficulty in making his daily wire reports to Flag will enemy divisions had landed at the mouth of the columbia river on the oregon coast taken the antiquated coast forts from the r rear ear with a few platoons of infantry and were proceeding up the river toward portland A submarine base was report ed established at tongue point at the mouth of the columbia other invader divisions had landed on the undefended coast north of san francisco and were marching into the sacramento valley van hassels Has guaymas motorized columns had taken los angeles and were well north toward san francisco to effect a junction with their oriental allies by tomorrow all coast naval bases would be in the hands of the enemy CHAPTER each night for a week past benr ning had gone to sleep with ajoy a joyous rhythmic throbbing in his brain the echo of what to him was a glorious music it was the music of marching feet and of rolling trains and caissons chaissons cais sons music that conjured up visions of a great day yet to come what time he could find to himself away from his duties at GHQ of late afternoons he spent on the roads at the edge of salt lake listening to that same refrain as it beat from the heavy field shoes of marching infantry 0 on their way to the westward trains A beautiful sight were those b bronzed strong bodies of men who marched with slanted muskets or sat upright in trucks behind ethear their rolling caissons chaissons cais sons they showed their langhard long hard months of training these rugged youngsters and their faces were gravely radiant with a soldiers high morale as they faced the west at I 1 last ast ozithe on the great adirent adventure uie texas andt and the fie pacific states had suffered unspeakable cruelties cruel ties and hardships under the heavy heels of the invader what wealth they had was stripped striped to the bone what energies they had wire were har harnessed hessed against their own country to aid their armed oppressors there had been those months of a reign of terror when cities within range of the atlantic were shelled bombers rained the count rys great cities with death carrying their assaults in the dark of the night fa far inland to such cities as chicago and st louis cleveland detroit cincinnati cinnoti cin nati indianapolis then had come the van hassek de demand marid president bannard himself s elf had insisted that van hassek be allowed to present to the whole country his terms of peace over all the networks van hassek had spoken for the coalition powers peace could he had at the price of alaska hawaii the right of unrestricted immigration renunciation of the monroe doctrine internationalization aliza tion of the panama canal Tann ards voice came ringing back now nov in bennings mei memory nory an answer togo to go down in history the united stat states es asks no terms we mean to destroy the armies that haye invaded our shores and then we wa will hold to an accounting those predatory powers that tha tare are responsible for international brigan brigandage daie that is our last word to our ene mies until you come before us on your knees in the humility of utter de depeatt featt there had been glorious days as well as the months drifted by there had been that day dai of two 1 4 months ago when the third army reorganized reinforced and Iny invincible inci crashed down across across texas to drive the invader south of the ro grande behind the passes athe there ther ewas was formed this great army whose fighting reserves itow now marched into th ewest long patient months this had taken months that had tried the courage and resources sources of the country benning turned from his reflections to the realities of headquarters dusk we was s falling the skies were filling with pl planes aries planes that pointed their noses to the west the vast caravan of men and guns moved on in its endless rhythm as it emptied the huge training camps of the salt lake valley of their half million men at headquarters he checked his per personal bonal effects musette hag bag belt and pistol map case field glasses raincoat steel helmet the buzzer from Flag wills desk rang at eight oclo ek was now a two star general with the assignment of chief of staff of the western group of field armies smells to me like a crush noti bagwill Flag will said sniffing at a small linen envelope and handing it to bent aida but since it came irom paris installment NINETEEN pared for this sudden attack and could only retreat la in the lace face of overwhelming forea torca expeditionary forces set let sall all ironi from botti both the mediterranean and the far eail bait the U S pacific fleet beet began becan the lie tens long trip around cape horn to protect the atlantic ic aboard when the panama canal was wa destroyed by dynamite laden 1 IT in the diplomatic pouch and was shot here from washington by air courier it may have some imbor tance 11 benning slit the envelope open with a paper knife A message on a single slip of paper which bore no signature read mon capitaine Capit alne I 1 presume you may know already that M bravot is in your country under masquerade in the hope of redeeming himself in van hassels Has Ilas favor benning passed the note to general Flag will and said with a thoughtful smile that n note ote from our little french girl startles me sir rather a coincidence to receive this just when bravot has been on my mind today ive had a hunch the fellow might be round around i s somewhere ome where Flag will stood up and took from the pocket of his coat a pair of stiver silver oak leaves ile he handed them to Benni benning fig and said heres your your new insignia of rank colonel with my affectionate best wishes shortly before nine benning wound his way in Flag wills sedan through the endless troop convoys landing field in his dis patch case were the secret orders that would put rollings hollings fourth army into the attack four planes were lined up at the field to carry as many field officer couriers with orders that would put the group of four field armies into action bennings pilot stiff and erect at attention beside baide his fuselage saluted punctiliously in his present preoccupation it was was only Zenn bennings ings long habit of f sharp observation that picked up the minor inconsistency of a pilot with goggles taxed s over his eyes before he climbed to the cockpit As binning benning searched the pilot he saw sar the officers body stiffen bennings hand drove drone to his holstered bolstered service service pistol hs as he picked out in the moonlight his fellows profile prof the into action at the same instant slant in with sw swift ift even deliberation benning leveled his weapon and pressed the trigger 4 i bra Bra sank to the ground pilots cliot ia and ground crew rushed up Bennin benning gleaned leaned over the fallen man and stripped off the goggles floodlights Flood lights were switched on a hurried search made mada for captain Tre trench fich pilot of the plane body was found in the shadow of a nearby near by hangar a knife thrust through his heart benning hastily searched BraNi Br avots uniform in ili a canvas dispatch ca case se he found cleverly counterfeited orders for a prompt withdrawal of three divisions from an important salient in enemy lines east of sacramento in the small hours of the morning bennings plane put him down at carson city A military automobile north around irmund lake tahoe thence west in feito the slopes slope s of the sierras columns plodded on silent shadows in the night an endless caravan of men moving to the front daybreak was close at hand when he reached the fourth ardys advance command post the army commander took the dispatch from benning broke the seal and read with a visible tightening of jaws ships aid ad by a heavy loi trop troop r from the orient established on the pacific cot intelligence officer benning was wai assigned the grim rim talk of 0 reporting developments to hi big tu perlor colonel Flag will abo was w t tloyd la in washington now continuo continue with the tb tory story I 1 very good he said this is ju just st what ive been waiting formy army Is itching to jump off from the distance heavy artillery grumbled at the dawn its vibrations tossed from mountain to mountain in in a dull ominous monotone of sound in front efthem of them the invader held the superiority of strength in the present moment but van hassels Has hir air force no no longer commanded command edthe the skies and his espionage system east of the cascades and had been snuffed out by firing squads benning worked feverishly to acquaint himself with the intimate details tails of enemy strength morale and dispositions in five days a milli million Oll men would be ready to attack behind that mighty cavalcade of trained fighting men another half million were in hi the final stages of seasoning for battle and could be pushed forward when the need for them arrived the fourth army was shaping itself to attack to the south and west whatever vei the cost it was to push its way past sacramento and cut the van hassek forces in twain simultaneously the first second and fifth armies would press forward with a vigor that would prevent van hassek from centering his reserves against the fourth Upon thew the advantages of the first few weeks of dl action would depend the final massed attacks that were aimed to sweep the invader into the pacified Paci fid dawn of the day of at attack tack come came with a roar of artillery that shook the skies down a three hundred mile front old timers vowed that not even the argonne witnessed such volcanic wrath of artillery light medium and heavy heave artillery pounded thenan the van hassell hassek trenches for an hour and in its wake came the infantry waves pushing relentlessly ahead in the first rid red welter of the tortuous miles to the se sea a I 1 on a day after cr crimson imson weeks weel cs that benning flew in reconnaissance over sacramento the first american waves were at last on thee the idge edge odthe of the alt city A heavy beavy pall paU of smoke told that the invader had abandoned abando nedi k fhe city in flames indication that thit he ha meant to hold farther to td the odst rather than trust here to counter attacks that told benning too that thevan the van hassek lines to the north and south would be drawn back a ck bennings pulse surged as he viewed from the skies heavy enemy colbi columns marching to the west from sacramento to take up some new strategic disposition the spectacle seemed to vitalize hagues prophecy bring nearer the day of fulfillment dark months lay ahead many many men yet must die and the count rys stamina would be tested to thelast the last fiber of its strength but for benning there were no doubts the dawn clawn would come that glorious dawn of the day when he had vowed for himself a glorious adventure on that day he meant to wing hs way to the north again whence had come those fierce shadows in hi the fog there ne he would see their sur livors as they melted back into the pacific before the mighty ven vengeance gehnke of our massed valor THE END |